Stated Current Purpose/Intent

To provide compensation to a veteran, member of the Forces, member of a Peacekeeping Force or Australian mariner where, because of either:

total and permanent incapacity; (T&PI) or

temporary total incapacity (TTI);

resulting from eligible service, the person is unable to resume or to continue in remunerative work for periods aggregating more than eight hours per week.

Current Eligibility Criteria

A person is eligible for T&PI pension if:

the degree of incapacity from his or her war-caused or defence-caused disabilities has been determined to be at least 70 per cent; or

he or she has suffered from or is suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis, and is receiving or entitled to receive a disability pension at the general rate; and

he or she is totally and permanently incapacitated, that is to say, the person's incapacity from his or her accepted disabilities, alone, renders the person incapable of undertaking remunerative work for periods aggregating more than eight hours per week; and

he or she is, by reason of his or her incapacity from accepted disabilities alone, prevented from continuing to undertake remunerative work and, as a consequence, suffers a loss of earnings that the person would not suffer if free of that incapacity.

If the person is aged 65 years or over, they must have been engaged in continuous remunerative work that commenced prior to turning 65 and continued past the age of 65. There is no requirement for this continuous period of employment to have been with the same employer/self-employment (e.g. the person may have worked for mulitple employers or owned more than one business).

A person is also eligible if he or she is blinded in both eyes as a result of a war-caused or defence-caused injury or disease.

A person is eligible for TTI pension if:

he or she is temporarily incapacitated from war-caused or defence-caused disabilities; and

if the incapacity were permanent, the person would qualify for a T&PI pension.

The period for which TTI pension is determined as payable is the time for which the incapacity is likely to continue.

Notes

On the death of a person entitled to a special rate pension an eligible dependant of the person has an automatic entitlement to a war widow(er)'s pension or orphan's pension, as appropriate.

Date of Introduction

1920

Original Purpose/Intent

To compensate "severely disabled veterans of a relatively young age who could never go back to work and could never hope to support themselves or their families or provide for their old age."

Significant Changes in Criteria or Purpose since Introduction

1985

With the introduction of the VEA, the criteria for grant of special rate were amended so that the veteran must be prevented from working for more than eight hours per week because of the effects of war-caused or defence-caused incapacity alone.

1988

From December the eligibility criteria were amended by reducing the level of incapacity required from 100 per cent to 70 per cent.

1994

From June the eligibility criteria were amended such that a special rate pension will not normally be payable to veterans aged 65 or more at the time they make the claim.

From July the SWPA Act and Regulations were repealed and Australian mariners became eligible under the VEA on the same basis as veterans.

1998

From 1 January 1998, disability pensioners became eligible for payment of lump sum advance of pension (See the section on Lump Sum Advance of Pension).

2004

From March 2004 the above general rate component of disability pension is indexed with reference to both CPI and MTAWE in the same manner as the service pension.

2006

The standards used to determine blindness under the VEA were brought into line with those used by Department of Human Services - Centrelink and other government agencies. This meant that the blindness standards for a veterans to be classified as permanently blind changed from a visual acuity of less than or equal to 3/60 in both eyes to a visual acuity of less than or equal to 6/60 in both eyes.

2007

From 3 July 2007 the special rate and intermediate rate disability pension were increased by $50 and $25 per fortnight respectively.

2008

From 20 March 2008 changes to the rate and indexation of disability pensions occurred. This measure included three distinct components:

Increase the above general rate component of EDA by $15;

Increase the general rate component of all disability pensions by 5%;

Change the indexation arrangements for the general rate component of all pensions to MTAWE/CPI in same manner as the service pension.

From 1 July 2008 the estate of a deceased single veteran previously in receipt of a Special Rate (T&PI) or Extreme Disablement Adjustment (EDA) disability pension who died in indigent circumstances became eligible for a disability pension bereavement payment.

2010

Introduction of British Nuclear Test Defence Service.

2012

Clean energy advance payable for the period 1 July 2012 to 19 March 2013 for eligible recipients.

About CLIK

The Consolidated Library of Information and Knowledge (CLIK) contains all the legislative, policy and reference material used by DVA staff in providing service to the clients of the Department of Veterans' Affairs.

Rehabilitation

Disclaimer

Information provided on this website is for general information and on the understanding that the Australian Government is not providing professional advice on a particular matter.

While we make every effort to ensure that the information on this site is accurate and up to date we accept no responsibility whether expressed or implied for the accuracy, currency and completeness of the information.

Before relying on the material you should independently check its relevance for your purposes, and obtain any appropriate professional advice.

For reasons of succinctness and presentation, the information provided on this website may be in the form of summaries and generalisations, and may omit detail that could be significant in a particular context, or to particular persons.

Important legislative change

Please be aware that Parliament has recently passed a new Act that will replace the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 (SRCA) for current and former members of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) with conditions linked to service prior to 1 July 2004.

The new Act, titled the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related Claims) Act 1988 (DRCA), will have the same eligibility requirements and provide the same benefits for current and former members of the ADF with compensation coverage under the SRCA. The DRCA will also apply to new claims the Department receives from current and former ADF members with injuries, diseases, deaths, losses or damages resulting from ADF employment prior to 1 July 2004.

The DRCA commenced operation on 12 October 2017.

As a result of this change, the Department is updating its published information, including hardcopy and website content, including CLIK. While this process is well underway, it will take some time before all changes are complete. In the meantime, references within CLIK to the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 or SRCA should now generally be understood to be references to the new DRCA Act (with the exception of intended historical references to SRCA). It is important to note that the same provision references (i.e., sections, subsections and paragraphs) from the SRCA have been retained in the DRCA.

Again, while the Department makes every effort to ensure that the information on this site is accurate and up to date and all necessary changes will be made as soon as practicable, the above disclaimer notice is of particular importance to those members whose circumstances may be affected by this legislative change. We appreciate your patience during this change process.